High School reunions are often reserved for meet ups across the pond in America, but the original classmates of Craigmount High School have bucked that trend.
Around 160 pupils from the first four years of the Edinburgh high school - 1970 to 1974 - gathered together in the White Heather suite at the Clermiston Inn on Saturday October 1. The event had been organised for 2020 to celebrate 50 years from the school opening but unfortunately a pesky pandemic threw a spanner in the works.
However, that did not deter organisers Adrian Souter, 64, and Liz Cann, 60, who remained committed and attempted to round up their old school community. The event was said to have been a roaring success with tears of joy and embracing hugs shared amongst those in attendance.
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And not only did the event act as a means of celebration but those who made it along also raised just over £3,000 for Fighting Against Cancer Edinburgh (FACE) who help children at the capital’s Western General hospital.
Organiser Adrian said about the night: “The event was announced on my Facebook group: Craigmount, the first 4 years: '70 - '74 - and although there was already a great Craigmount group on Facebook, it covers all years, so I decided to create a group just for those of us that were there at the beginning.
“I expected we would get about 70 members, but we now have 587. There was no thought about a reunion when the group was created, but it soon became a hot topic.
“The reunion was originally meant to take place in August 2020 to celebrate 50 years from when the original Craigmount School opened in August 1970, but the pandemic happened, so we had to postpone it.
“It was decided early on that we would charge £10 for tickets and any excess funds would be donated to a local charity. A friend and fellow organiser, Liz, is a volunteer for F.A.C.E. (Fighting Against Cancer Edinburgh)
“We also had a raffle on the night, which had loads of prizes donated and we received even more generous donations, which took the charity total over £3,000.
“Five teachers from the era attended and were extremely popular guests. They were Maggie Pringle, Maggie McManus, Allan and Rosemary Morrison and Matt MacIver.
“Although Mr Trotter, our headmaster had passed away, his widow attended too. Our drama teacher Mrs Joyce Heller wanted to come but wasn't able to, but her son and daughter arranged for a video of her sending us all a greeting
“The White Heather Suite at the Clermiston Inn were very generous with us and provided a fabulous finger buffet, with baguettes, pastries, sandwiches, hot pakora and different chicken bites at a great price. Liz also arranged for a caramel tart, a 'school dinner' favourite to be on the buffet table.
“We supplied everyone with a name sticker, with the name they were known by at school. I was soon being told by everyone I spoke to how great it all was and offering congratulations to Liz and I for getting everyone together.
“I was elated at how well it was all going and I kept meeting people I hadn't seen for years, it was awesome. Those that were nervous about attending or thought they might not know any one were soon enjoying themselves and recognising people.
“For me, this was the best part, seeing people reconnect after so many years.”
Adrian and Liz had a special banner created in the original blue and brown school colours which was used as a photo backdrop by all those attending the night. There was also a DJ playing 70s music throughout the evening which had a slideshow of old photos of the school and ex pupils appearing on a big-screen all night.
Liz said: “It was meant to be a wee reunion but it started to snowball and everyone jumped on board. Everyone was so generous with offering raffle prizes with some being gifted from down south and as far away as America.
“All of the money raised went to FACE which is a volunteer led group that provides little things to support families that have children fighting cancer. One event that we host every year is taking a group of young people to Lapland to visit Santa.
“It was a brilliant night and all you could hear was “oh my god” followed by people laughing and crying when seeing people they had not seen for forty years. It was very emotional but it went without a hitch.
“The fundraiser was definitely a highlight but so was reconnecting with everybody you had not seen in years, and seeing where life had taken them. Seeing everyone having such a good time made me think that I did not want the night to end.
“I had transferred into third year from Tynecastle and remember it was state of the art.
“I’d like to thank everyone that came along and made it a fantastic night.”
A celebrity was also amongst those celebrating the reunion, with Tam Dean Burn, 64, a star of River City and the Outlaw King, catching up with old school friends. He reminisced about the fantastic drama facilities and running around with the old ‘Cleri Jungle.’
On the night and his memories, he said: “The whole night was amazing. Adrian who helped organise the event was actually my next door neighbour when growing up.
“It was nice to come back to the area and see what Clermiston is like now. I had all the memories come flooding back when I got off the 26 at the terminus.
“The slideshow photographs showed people from back then and honestly some people had not changed one bit. It felt like it was over in a flash because everyone was chatting and catching up.
“I’d say a highlight for me was when they played Hey Ho Silver Lining by Jeff Beck. I used to have a posse of mates that I hung around with alongside my little brother.
“We used to replace the lyrics with Cleri Jungle and do the daft hand gang sign. I really felt blessed to have gone to Craigmount.
“The drama facilities were fantastic and the stage was made up of these transferable blocks. Mrs Heller and Mr Morely who were both my drama teachers were a huge inspiration for my career and I’m so grateful for what they did for me.”
Jan Cairns, 64, who works as a foster carer and now lives in the borders, said that it was fantastic to be reunited with everyone 53 years later. She said: “The night was excellent, it was the most fantastic night given we had to wait 53 years before we could all get together.
“It was so lovely to see the old faces and it was quite an emotional night as there were a lot of rekindled friendships and laughter. There was also the emotional side of those that could not be there as they had recently passed away.
“Overall it was a fabulous night with a lot of telephone numbers swapped and conversations of meeting up again. When at Craigmount I was one of the first years and was placed in the Lister house which was great.
“To be honest I was never a big school person, I went to school because I had to. But I did love the sporting side of everything and getting involved in all of the clubs that were there.”
There are talks of another reunion taking place next year and making the event a regular occurrence. Adrian and Liz were extremely thankful of the Clermiston Inn who they said went above and beyond to make their night so special.
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